One major group within the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) said Sunday that it was pulling its delegation from talks in Nigeria on the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region.

Minni Arcua Minnawi, leader of one of the two main factions within the SLM, said in a statement that the Abuja talks in Nigeria would have no effect on the ground.

"The movement calls on its military delegation to withdraw immediately and head to the liberated territories," he said.

The Sudan Liberation Army, the SLM's armed wing, will not disarm until a transitional period ends and the Sudanese army is restructured, the statement said.

The SLM would not negotiate until it holds a general congress in the areas under its control in Darfur and until the international community "takes a clear position on the continuing war of genocide in Darfur and clear steps to transfer war criminals to the International Criminal Court," it said.

The conflict in the desert region of western Sudan has killed tens of thousands of people and many have become refugees in Darfur and neighbouring Chad.

The SLM and the smaller Justice and Equality Movement took up arms in 2003.

Source: Xinhua